"Actor: James Morris"

• Boy Meets Boy (DVD) | DVD | (06/09/2021) from £9.55   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Wagner: Die Walkure -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  The 1990 Metropolitan Opera performance of Die Walkure ("The Valkyrie") with James Levine conducting is a solid, four-square performance with few frills and no gimmicks, just extraordinarily fine singing and orchestral playing. There is no point in this where you find yourself asking why the director did something: this is the sort of production which could be criticised as unimaginative but defended as serving Wagner's intentions for this instalment of his Ring cycle. Levine and his orchestra give the music an emotional intensity that never overwhelms its grandeur, though perhaps in Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde, we feel him more as father than as god. James Morris as Wotan has real stature, making us feel that he has finally created the free agents he needs to avoid the curse he has unleashed on the world, but he has broken his heart in the process. Jessye Norman is surprisingly good and erotically self-assured as Sieglinde; the Act 1 love duet with Gary Lake as Siegmund has an ardour that makes the incestuous aspect less a matter of perversity than of the conduct of heroes. Kurt Moll makes Sieglinde's rapist and husband Hunding, a three-dimensional sinister villain; and Christa Ludwig almost manages to sell us Fricka's interminable paean to family values. The most impressive performance here, though, is Hildegard Behrens as Brunnhilde, the steely godling who sacrifices everything because she learns to feel and to know what is right. On the DVD Die Walkure on disc comes with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese and with a picture gallery of the production. Awkwardly it is presented in (American) NTSC format not PAL, with a visual aspect of standard TV 4:3. More impressive is the choice of PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 6.1; the sound is admirably clear and well-balanced. --Roz Kaveney

• Shadow Of Doubt | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (20.04%)   |  RRP £5.99

  When the daughter of a billionaire philanthropist is murdered in a rough sex romp gone bad District Attorney Jack Campioni (Tom Berenger) is quick to indict an up-and-coming rap artist. Fresh off the acquittal of Councilman Steven Mayer (John Ritter) high-profile defense attorney Kitt Devereaux (Melanie Griffith) comes to the aid of the young rapper. Teaming with investigator Al Gordon (Huey Lewis) Devereaux finds herself up against unexpected dangerous forces including one of t

• Hilary And Jackie (Wide Screen) | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £6.88   |  Saving you £6.10 (156.81%)   |  RRP £9.99

  It earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who enraptured audiences with her bold, emblazoned and wholly unconventional playing style, and who died at age 42--was criticised for its "lapses" in truth by people who purportedly knew du Pré. Some of the controversy revolved around the other main character in Anand Tuckers gorgeous, involving movie--du Prés sister, Hilary, whose book,A Genius in the Family (cowritten with brother Piers), dished some dirt on Jackies sleeping with Hilarys husband. But dont let that deter you from this ebullient movie experience. Hilary and Jackie is a bisected story (each sisters tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors. Its stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passion; passion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, its Griffiths who provides the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside of his characters heads. Hes helped by a fine screenplay by Frank Boyce Cottrell. No matter what the truth of Hilary and Jackie might really be, this is an exceptional, rare film that is defined and graced by fine acting and writing. --Paula Nechak

• Wagner: Das Rheingold -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  It takes a certain amount of forethought if Das Rheingold is to be more than a series of special effects scenes, though moments like the appearance of the giants through the mist or Alberich's transformations need to be as thrilling as they are here. As always in his Wagner, and perhaps especially in this very traditional 1990 Metropolitan Opera production of the Ring cycle, James Levine keeps to the forefront the underlying humanity of Wagner's gods and monsters. In the first scene, for example, he brings out the thoughtless, callous frivolity of the Rhine maidens as they precipitate the events of the four operas by taunting the gnome Alberich: it helps that they swirl around, green and gold, in a convincing representation of the bottom of the Rhine, but the emotions are the point. Ekkehaard Wlaschiha is a convincingly menacing Alberich partly because Levine brings out his vulnerability as well as his evil temper. James Morris is splendid as the younger less care-worn Wotan and Siegfried Jerusalem as Loge enjoys the sarcasm of his cynical commentary on Wotan's aspirations. The smaller parts have luxury casting: Matti Salminen as Fafner and Christa Ludwig as Fricka, for example. On the DVD: Das Rheingold comes with a photo gallery of the Metropolitan Opera production and with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese. Disappointingly though it is presented in American NTSC format with standard TV 4:3 visual ratio. But it does have an excellent clear acoustic in all three of its audio options: PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. --Roz Kaveney

• Brits Hits 2007 - Various | DVD | (05/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Brits Hits - the album to accompany the musical event of the year! 30 music videos of today's biggest UK & International artists with hit singles from Scissor Sisters Razorlight Lily Allen Snow Patrol and many more. Tracklist: 1. America - Razorlight 2. Supermassive Black Hole - Muse 3. Smile - Lily Allen 4. Monster - The Automatic 5. Is It Any Wonder? - Keane 6. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol 7. Empire - Kasabian 8. Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance 9. Crazy - Gnarles Barkley 10. You Give Me Something - New Version - James Morrison 11. Jenny Don't Be Hasty - Paulo Nutini 12. Trouble - Ray Lamontagne 13. Valerie - Zutons 14. Bang Bang You're Dead - Dirty Pretty Things 15. Break The Night With Colour - Richard Ashcroft 16. Wonderwall - Oasis 17. Nature's Law - Embrace 18. Fill My Little World - The Feeling 19. Something Kind Of Ooooh - Girls Aloud 20. When You Wasn't Famous - The Streets 21. Rehab - Amy Winehouse 22. Diamonds From Sierra Leone - Kanye West 23. Hips Don't Lie - Shakira 24. I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) 25. Put Your Records On - Corrine Bailey Rae 26. Star Girl - Star Girl 27. Who Knew - Pink 28. Easy - Sugababes 29. No Tomorrow - Orson 30. Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis Bonus Live Performances: 31. In The Morning - Razorlight 32. Sewn - The Feeling 33. You're All I Have - Snow Patrol

• Verdi: Luisa Miller | DVD | (10/07/2006) from £15.85   |  Saving you £-1.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Verdi: Luisa Miller (Levine Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

• 24 : Series 1 & 2 (Limited Edition Box Set) | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  This limited-edition DVD box set contains the complete first and second series of 24. Read our reviews of the individual series here: 24, Series 1, 24, Series 2.

• Black Dynamite | Blu Ray | (16/02/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Quatermass And The Pit | Blu Ray | (09/05/2016) from £21.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Brand new and sealed Steelbook Edition of the Hammer Horror film based on the original BBC TV series by Nigel Kneale starring Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, James Donald, Duncan Lamont and Julian Glover

• Wagner: Siegfried -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £19.19   |  Saving you £2.80 (14.59%)   |  RRP £21.99

  James Levine makes Siegfried, sometimes the problem child among the four operas of Wagner's Ring cycle, attractive and interesting. He is aware of the darker side of some of the comic scenes--the seemingly benevolent dwarf Mime carries the weight of Wagner's many prejudices--but manages to keep them uneasy rather than positively sinister thanks to the finally judged performance of Heinz Zednik. Siegfried Jerusalem is admirable as Siegfried, full of boyish enthusiasm during the reforging of the sword, and of authority in his confrontations with the dragon and with Wotan. (The dragon itself is, as so often, an unfortunate compromise between realism and stylisation.) James Morris is extraordinary in Wotan's scenes here, his combination of injured pride and relieved joy when Siegfried demonstrates, by shattering his spear, that Wotan has entirely lost control of events is exemplary. This is an opera whose many and various scenes are all preludes to its emotional core: the love duet which comes when Siegfried awakens Brunnhilde. Jerusalem and Hildegard Behrens convey both the innocence and the ardor of this duet; while Levine gets extraordinary playing from the Metropolitan Opera orchestra throughout, but especially here, where a chamber-like delicacy applies to much of the music. On the DVD Siegfried on this disc is a recording of the 1990 Metropolitan Opera production and comes with both menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese as well as a picture gallery. Awkwardly it is presented in (American) NTSC format not PAL, and the visual ratio is standard TV 4:3. Better is the choice of sound formats--PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital and DTS digital--which provide a spacious acoustic that gives proper weight to the climaxes, and an appropriate delicacy to Wagner's subtler passages. --Roz Kaveney

• Otello - Verdi | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £15.85   |  Saving you £1.14 (7.19%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Filmed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1995 this rendition of Verdi's 'Otello' is beautifully crafted by leading stars Placido Domingo and Renee Fleming. This was the first major success for Fleming at the Met and as this release illustrates she tackled the character of Desdemona wonderfully.

• Quatermass And The Pit | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-22.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  We have met the enemy, and it is us: when a Martian spacecraft with a terrifying link to the origins of humanity is unearthed beneath a London tube station, only the esteemed Professor Bernard Quatermass can save London's suddenly murderous population from itself. One of the most intelligently paranoid science fiction films ever produced, this pessimistic masterpiece functions as a dark flip-side to the relatively optimistic alien-induced evolution theory presented in the later 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nigel Kneale's brilliant script (which posits a surprisingly plausible, otherworldly rationale for the existence of the supernatural) was later appropriated by acknowledged fan John Carpenter for his underrated Prince of Darkness. A must-see for horror and science fiction aficionados. This film is also known as Five Million Years to Earth. --Andrew Wright

• Tough And Deadly | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £5.49   |  Saving you £-0.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  When bounty hunter Elmo Freech saves a badly injured man from an assassins bullet as he lies in a hospital bed it's the start of a breakneck chain of brutal combat and furious action. Struck with amnesia the man Freech rescues can remember only one thing - his CIA codename 'Quicksilver'. Coupled with his lightening fast martial arts skills Freech realises that this guy is trouble especially after a crack hit-squad from a ruthless Milan Mafia family strike with orders to kill Quicksilver. Soon Freech and Quicksilver are taking on the CIA assassins and Mafia muscle as they try to expose an unholy alliance between the two. Freech and Quicksilver - back in action and tough and deadly...

• 24 Season 1-5 Box Set | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £149.99

  Series 1: The first episode begins at midnight on the day of the California Presidential Primary. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) heads up the government's Counter-Terrorist Unit. He discovers that there's going to be an assassination attempt on Senator Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) an African-American presidential candidate. Bauer faces a battle against the clock to avert disaster. The series follows several characters as they live through a day that none of them will forget. For Kimberly (Elisha Cuthbert) a night on the town takes an unexpected turn. Teri (Leslie Hope) sets out to find Kimberly and encounters more danger than she ever imagined possible. Senator Palmer unaware there's going to be an attempt on his life faces the threat of a long buried scandal resurfacing. Meanwhile Jack with help from his Chief-of-Staff Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke) is charged with the responsibility of stopping the assassination. But who can he trust when it appears a rogue element inside the Agency is in on the hit? And all the time the clock keeps ticking... Series 2: Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) race to prevent a nuclear bomb being detonated by terrorists in Los Angeles in the second season of 24. Series 3: When the head of a Mexican drug cartel is imprisoned by Jack Bauer (Sutherland) a plot ensues to blackmail the US Government with the threat of a released bio-weapon that will kill millions to ensure his release. With Palmer seeking re-election to a second term will Jack survive this day? Series 4: 18 months after day 3 CTU has a new leader Erin Driscoll a steely government agent who made firing Jack one of her first priorities. After the explosion of a commuter train Jack who is now working for Secretary of Defense James Heller and also is romantically involved with Heller's married daughter Audrey Raines suddenly finds himself heading back to CTU for a meeting with Driscoll. Jack believes that the train explosion is a prelude for bigger things to come... Series 5: 18 months have passed since the events of Day 4. With the exception of David Palmer Tony Almeida Michelle Dessler and Chloe O'Brian the world believes that Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is dead... Jack is in fact living under the name of Frank Flynn and conceals his identity by taking a manual job on an oil rig. However when President Logan is placed at the centre of a labyrinthine conspiracy involving the signing of a vital U.S. - Russian arms treaty Jack is forced back into action!

• Galaxy Of The Dinosaurs | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Simply one of the cheesiest films ever made with a group of space travellers transported back to the earth when dinosaurs roamed. Nil special effects plastic dinosaurs and a hilarious commentary track from the director who should have known better.

• West Bromwich Albion Season Review 2014/15 | DVD | (29/06/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  You know when you’ve been Pulised. From a precarious position at the turn of the year ten clean sheets to season’s end took the Throstles well clear of the relegation zone and into the safe haven of the Premier League’s mid-table as giants like Manchester United and Chelsea tumbled at every turn. Elsewhere it was a season to remember as we unveiled a statue of Mr. Albion Tony Brown and helped launch the Jeff Astle Foundation with an incredible day of celebration. Just fast forward through the last ten minutes of the game. It’s all here the games the goals the saves the Tony Brown story and Astle Day in all its glory. Past present and future that’s the Albion in 2014/15… Extras: Mr Albion - Tony Brown Jeff Astle Foundation Launch Goal of the Season

• Hilary And Jackie | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  It earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who enraptured audiences with her bold, emblazoned and wholly unconventional playing style, and who died at age 42--was criticised for its "lapses" in truth by people who purportedly knew du Pré. Some of the controversy revolved around the other main character in Anand Tucker's gorgeous, involving movie--du Pré's sister, Hilary, whose book,A Genius in the Family (cowritten with brother Piers), dished some dirt on Jackie's sleeping with Hilary's husband. But don't let that deter you from this ebullient movie experience. Hilary and Jackie is a bisected story (each sister's tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors. It's stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passion; passion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, it's Griffiths who provides the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside of his character's heads. He's helped by a fine screenplay by Frank Boyce Cottrell. No matter what the truth of Hilary and Jackie might really be, this is an exceptional, rare film that is defined and graced by fine acting and writing. --Paula Nechak

• Macbeth - Verdi | DVD | (18/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Giuseppe VerdiMacbethFrom the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1972Opera in Four Acts

• Death Of A Cheerleader | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  When Stacey Lockwood the cheerleader and beauty from Santa Mira High is murdered the chief suspect is another pupil. At the trial the whole community is under scrutiny for the pressure it places on the young. Based on a true story.